Community collaborative project whose oversight is headed by the Brooklyn Task Force on Infant and Maternal Mortality and Family Health (IMRI Coalition). Brooklyn Perinatal Network is BACHE’s Central Coordinating Organization. BACHE is part of a push by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (‘REACH US’) to eliminate health disparities in non-white populations.

The focus of BACHE is the elimination of health disparities in the realm of infant mortality and Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) babies (below 1500 grams) born to non-Hispanic Blacks and Puerto Ricans ages 15 to 25 in the Brownsville community.

The BACHE Program’s objectives are as follows:

1) By 2012 (YR 5) develop and pilot an enhanced approach to prenatal care services offered by medical providers serving 60% of the target area priority population.

2) By 2012 (YR 5) develop and pilot a Community-Based Services Navigation (CBSN) System for social health services.

BACHE coordinates and evaluates a pilot program promoting the use of prenatal risk assessment (PRA) criteria among four healthcare providers serving 60% of the target population. The goal of this work is to more effectively identify and serve at-risk pregnant or parenting mothers in Brownsville. We have also developed a web-based referral network of community medical providers, social support services and key stakeholders to work with community residents to provide culturally competent integrated health services. This network is called the Community Based Service Navigation System (or ‘CBSN’).

BACHE promotes a Community Based Participatory Approach in all aspects of project planning, development and implementation. We are currently seeking Community Health Advocates (‘CHA’s) - residents from all walks of life within the Brownsville Community. A CHA is a volunteer health worker who is trained to increase awareness of health prevention by helping individuals and families access and navigate healthcare options and other social services available to them. CHAs are also trained to advocate in the community by sharing their enhanced knowledge and experience with public officials. If you know someone who would be a good community health advocate in Brownsville, please contact us.